Scott Walker says he won’t be on the ballot in 2022.
Wisconsin’s former governor on Monday said he will not run for governor or the U.S. Senate in a little more than three years.
Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he has a new job as the head of the Young America’s Foundation, which is focused on finding and keeping young conservative voters.
“Starting January 2021, this will be full-time,” Walker said of his new job. “I won’t be engaged in anything else. This will be my sole occupation.”
That means he will not be a candidate again.
“This would preclude me from running for governor in this next cycle or running for the U.S. Senate if Ron Johnson’s seat is open,” Walker said.
The decision impacts more than just Walker’s future.
A number of Republicans in the state have been waiting to see what the former governor did before making their moves for the next statewide election cycle.
It is still unknown if Sen. Ron Johnson will run for re-election, or run for something else. There’s a lot of talk about Johnson possibly running for governor.
Democrats in Wisconsin, for their part, are taking another shot at Walker.
“This isn’t the first time Walker has made promises not to pursue higher political ambitions; in October 2014, just weeks before Wisconsinites re-elected Walker to a second-term, Walker promised Wisconsinites he wouldn’t run for president in 2016, saying: “My plan is if the people of the state of Wisconsin elect me on Nov. 4 is to be here for four years … It’s a position I’m committed to,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler said in a statement Monday. “Walker went on to launch a 71-day bid for president just 8 months later.”
Walker will not start his new job until 2021, when the Young America’s Foundation’s current director steps down. The former governor says he’s agreed to at least four years at the top of the group.
Benjamin Yount reports on Illinois and Wisconsin statewide issues for The Center Square. Reposted with permission.
